Wednesday, October 27, 2010

They're delicious, but ugly. I decided to give this staple no-bake recipe a seasonal makeover. The result? Halloween chocolate no bake cookies, one version with "Pumpkin Patch" toppers and another with "Witches' Hats."

Home bakers traditionally plop the batter for this quick-to-cook, candy-like treat onto wax paper by the spoonful and leave it to cool into unappealing blobs. But why not treat such a tasty dessert with more respect?

My revision preserves deliciousness, but leaves the cookies nicely formed and dressed up as Halloween cookies. Here's how I fixed the problem using mini cupcake pans and a few candies:Pumpkin Patch Variation: Spray mini cupcake pans (appx 36 cupcakes worth) thoroughly with no-stick cooking spray. Working quickly, fill each cupcake tin halfway with spoonfuls of cooked batter, and press a pumpkin candy into the top of each cookie. When completely cool, remove with a butter knife.

Witches' Hat Variation: Remove the foil from about 36 Hershey's Kisses. Spray mini cupcake pans (appx 36 cupcakes worth) thoroughly with no-stick cooking spray. Working quickly, fill the trays half-way with spoonfuls of cooked batter. To keep the chocolates from melting completely, you may need to wait a minute or so before topping each cookie with a Hershey's Kiss. Don't wait too long, or the cookie will harden. When completely cool, remove the chocolate oatmeal no bake cookies with a butter knife.

This quick and easy chocolate no bake cookie recipe makes great Halloween cookies.

Check below for the chocolate no bake cookie recipe I grew up with. If you want to give the Halloween cookies a more grown-up taste, you can add up to a teaspoon of instant coffee powder to the milk and butter mixture.

Chocolate No Bake Cookie Recipe

Prepare your mini cupcake pans as described above, and remove foil from any candy in advance. Combine milk, melted butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and optional instant coffee in a pan and bring to full rolling boil. Maintain full boil for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and oats, and follow directions described above for Pumpkin Patch or Witches' Hat cookies.

3 comments:

Hmmm... off the top of my head, this is not one that I have immediate ideas for substitutions. The main problems are the grain (oatmeal) and the sweetener. The recipe would need a grain substitute that was similarly able to absorb liquid...quinoa flakes might work, since quinoa is technically a seed...coconut flour also comes to mind, but the texture isn't right. The sweetener is the other big problem. Part of the reason this recipe works is because you bring the sugar through a candy-making stage in terms of the heat levels achieved during the boiling step. This may be possible to achieve with maple syrup, since it is done as part of making maple candy, but I am certain it would require quite a bit of trial and error when incorporated into the rest of the re-worked recipe.